BUFFALO SABRES AT MONTREAL CANADIENS

This is Buffalo’s fourth of six preseason games. Buffalo defeated the Ottawa Senators 2-1 Tuesday night in Dundas, Ontario as part of 2010 Hockeyville festivities. Jason Pominville scored the game-winning goal in the third period to put the Sabres on top. Rob Niedermayer provided Buffalo's other goal in the contest while Ryan Miller was credited with the win, playing all 60 minutes.

Expect a more unified lineup in the final stretch of preseason games. Ruff said he hopes to begin sorting out pairings as training comes to a close with three games in four nights.

In addition to tonight's game, Buffalo will play October 1 at Philadelphia (7 p.m.) and October 3 against Philadelphia Flyers (6 p.m.).

“We’ll try to put some lines together and try to really be consistent with that in these last three games, a little like we did last year,” he said. “We’re going to keep enough players around so we don’t put too much on one player or line or defense pair.”

INJURIES: Head Coach Lindy Ruff updated the status of captain Craig Rivet. The defenseman has been unable to participate in practice since suffering a throat contusion on September 24.

“Craig is doing pretty good. He’s skating on his own. He should be able to skate with the team by [Friday] probably,” Ruff said.

Defenseman Marc-Andre Gragnani is out for four to six weeks with a knee sprain. Head Coach Lindy Ruff said he was hurt during a rookie scrimmage on Saturday, Sept. 18.
NOTES: The Sabres are 135-147-48 all-time in the preseason… Buffalo is 22-11-2 in preseason action since the start of the 2005-06 season.

From NHL.com: "After a magical postseason run to the Eastern Conference Finals, the Montreal Canadiens will enter this season without the player who was most responsible for getting them there.

Goaltender Jaroslav Halak was traded to St. Louis and signed a four-year deal with the Blues in June. The 25-year-old Halak had a 2.55 goals-against average and .923 save percentage as he almost singlehandedly defeated the top-seeded Washington Capitals in the first round and the defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round.

With Halak gone, the Habs will turn to the 23-year-old Carey Price, who has had his ups and downs since his stellar rookie season in 2007-08."

2009-10 MONTREAL CANADIENS LEADING SCORERS

NAME

GP

G

A

+/-

PTS

Tomas Plekanec

82

25

45

5

70

Scott Gomez

78

12

47

1

59

Mike Cammalleri

65

26

24

7

50

Brian Gionta

61

28

18

3

46

Andrei Markov

45

6

28

11

34

2009-10 MONTREAL CANADIENS LEADING GOALTENDERS

GOALIE

W

L

OT

SV%

GAA

Jaroslav Halak

26

13

5

.924

2.40

Carey Price

13

20

5

.912

2.77

According to NHL.com, "New faces include Jeff Halpern, who will fill the role played by Moore, and center Dustin Boyd, who spent four seasons with the Calgary Flames before being dealt to Nashville during last season.

On defense, Marc-Andre Bergeron and Paul Mara weren't brought back, likely opening the door for a full-time spot for P.K. Subban, who showed flashes of brilliance after being called up during the playoffs.

Andrei Markov missed a huge chunk of time last season due mostly to an ankle injury that cost him 35 games. He also missed 13 playoff games due to a knee injury and is still rehabbing during training camp. Roman Hamrlik, Hal Gill, Jaroslav Spacek, Ryan O'Byrne and Josh Gorges will likely comprise the rest of the defensive corps."